Characterization and Modeling of the Viscoelastic Behavior of a Self-Adhesive Rubber Using Dynamic Mechanical Analysis Tests

ABSTRACT: The goal of this study is twofold. The first one is to assess the applicability of approaches based on dynamic-mechanical analysis to investigate the viscoelastic properties of a self-adhesive synthetic rubber. The second goal is to identify the parameters of a viscoelastic model which accurately represents the frequency-dependent mechanical properties. For that purpose, the time-temperature superposition principle is successfully applied to build the master curves of the material up to 1 MHz. The thickness of the samples and the thermal expansion effects are found to have a negligible influence on the mechanical properties measured by dynamic-mechanical analysis. The parameters of a generalized Maxwell model and a fractional derivative model are identified from the obtained master curves and lead to an accurate representation of the frequency-dependent mechanical properties of the rubber.